I finally got a chance to check out Mad Dog's this past weekend. Having been born and raised in Chicago,(Jefferson Park,) I've been disappointed at every attempt to do "Chicago style" food over the last six years that I've lived here. People speak with nostalgic and loving tones about Dog Eat Dog back in the day. Not me. That place perpetrated grave injustices upon the hot dog and I'm glad it's gone. Poppa Coronofoulos' on the east side? The food there has made me angry enough to take friends on road trips to Chicago to show them just how shitty it really is!

With that said, Mad Dog's has done pretty well. I tried the Chicago style dog and the Italian Beef. The hot dog was good with the toppings in the right proportions. The kids behind the counter need to turn up the heat on the hot table a bit as the beef was a little cold, but mighty tasty none the less.

I do agree that they need fries. The small bags of chips just doesn't cut it. My only other bitch is the price. $3.75 for one hot dog is, to me, astronomical. In Chicago, I could get two dogs, fries, and a medium drink for that price!

I will return soon to try the Italian Sausage and the Maxwell Street Polish.

I can't escape the irony of malapropisms rearing their ugly heads with regards to a discussion of something Chicago-the veritable city of broad language butchery! From the fabulously flat affect of its citizens' speech to the codified Lite language of Tribune headlines...

1) Despite the fact I like the original poster's name, I always view with suspicion people who join in order to hype a new restaurant. When blunt goes and gives us a report, I'll check it out.

2) A simple plea which will go ignored: Can we knock it off with the "-nazi" stuff? That goes for grammar nazis, spelling nazis, smoking nazis, feminazis, soup nazis, etc. Until I see brown shirts and masses of the population disappearing, I'm not seeing Nazis.

nevermore wrote:Can we knock it off with the "-nazi" stuff? That goes for grammar nazis, spelling nazis, smoking nazis, feminazis, soup nazis, etc. Until I see brown shirts and masses of the population disappearing, I'm not seeing Nazis.

nevermore wrote:Despite the fact I like the original poster's name, I always view with suspicion people who join in order to hype a new restaurant. When blunt goes and gives us a report, I'll check it out.

nevermore wrote:Despite the fact I like the original poster's name, I always view with suspicion people who join in order to hype a new restaurant. When blunt goes and gives us a report, I'll check it out.

1) Despite the fact I like the original poster's name, I always view with suspicion people who join in order to hype a new restaurant. When blunt goes and gives us a report, I'll check it out.

2) A simple plea which will go ignored: Can we knock it off with the "-nazi" stuff? That goes for grammar nazis, spelling nazis, smoking nazis, feminazis, soup nazis, etc. Until I see brown shirts and masses of the population disappearing, I'm not seeing Nazis.

What are you, a Foronazi?
Ahem.
I almost weighed in a couple weeks ago, the day before they were open, because Mad Dog's was giving away everything FREE!
Everything! Free!
Lucky fratboy passersby ordered bags of crap ---to go!
I got an Italian dog and Chicago dog.
They were okay but better because I was drunk and hungry (as most things are when I'm drunk and hungry) and the fetus running the counter was very sweet and friendly.
They wouldn't let me leave without a ton of stuff, so I grabbed chips and a soda and another dog.
That said:
I still have heavenly results when I grill on my own---I can grill the dog AND the bun. I have an aversion to hot smoking succulence being slapped onto a white cold store-bought bun.
MadDog reminds me EXACTLY of Dog Eat Dog.
That said, what is the bizarre obsession with ersatz authenticity?
New York slice, Deli bagels, Chicago dogs.
The stuff here tastes pretty similar.
But the difference most purists are missing is the more relaxed health codes in big cities.
The reason dogs and pizza tastes best in NY and Chitown is the grill that hasn't been cleaned for 30 years and the unbathed swarthy help.
Plus no one in Madison yells at you and berates you while ordering. The last place to do that was Casa Bianca downtown when a young surly Italian guy fresh off the boat would glare at you until you ordered, then grunt with displeasure as he disappeared into the back.
I loved the abuse so much, I brought friends.
One day, alone and waiting for a Stromboli, he walked over, poured us both a shot of Ouzo, and we drank--brothers now.
Good times.
So.
Until restaurants stop cleaning everything so well and start bitching at customers more, we will never see authentic big city food here any time soon.

I guess that makes Tutto Pasta on State St and Q'Doba on State the most "authentic" experiences in town then, blunt. I could take a dump on the floor and it would only improve the cleanliness of those places.

TAsunder wrote:I guess that makes Tutto Pasta on State St and Q'Doba on State the most "authentic" experiences in town then, blunt. I could take a dump on the floor and it would only improve the cleanliness of those places.

Sorry to disappoint, but I have no affiliation with said restaurant. Just moved back to Madison after two year stint in Chicago. I've been trying to get to a lot of the new places that weren't here when I lived here for four years. Happy to get such a warm welcome back though. Nice to see that pessimism still reigns supreme in Madtown....